Evanston Lunch -- Tapas Barcelona, Friday June 6, 12:30

The Evanston Lunch Group will meet at Tapas Barcelona on Friday June 6 at 12:30, since they were closed for a private party the last time we tried to organize a lunch there. Please RSVP or pm if you can make it.

Tapas Barcelona
1615 Chicago Ave
Evanston, IL 60201
847-866-9900

Thanks for checking in! Yes, I can make it, and I'll be there - no, I won't be wearing a swimsuit. (you may all breathe a collective sigh of relief)

Beware - I may bring a swimsuit.

I would be so happy just to have a day when the weather is actually conducive to wearing a swimsuit that I could put up with NR706's choice!

Anyway, I will be there! sans swimsuit but--no worries--with some sort of appropriate apparel....

tarte tatin wrote:Anyway, I will be there! sans swimsuit but--no worries--with some sort of appropriate apparel....

Damn - I was starting to get excited there for a while ...

I hope to be there. It is on my calender. Are Paella's still being preordered?

Heather

It's on my calendar.

I'll be there, too.

- Mike

So, did you get a response from the restaurant about paella, rgl201? I'm looking forward to it!

I pre-ordered one paella valenciana. The three versions were valenciana (seafood, chicken, chorizo), catelana (seafood only), and vegetarian. The valenciana struck me as most authentic and includes everything. They said one order could easily be shared by eight, but I can order a 2nd if other participants like. Or else we can just order tapas,
Robert

Sounds good to me! Thanks for taking care of it - see you all tomorrow!

Thanks to Robert and Catherine for arranging a fine lunch. We ordered carefully, and there were no leftovers (sorry, MHays!)

But, of course, the camraderie and conversations were the best part of the afternoon. We had an interesting discussion of restaurants in the area that the Evanston Lunch Group™ hasn't tried yet. Even though the group has been going for several years now, we came up with a fairly long list of interesting venues that the group still needs to explore in coming months and years.(Fortunately, Tarte Tatin was taking notes on the remnants of an old, recycled checkbook.)

Nothing at Tapas Barcelona was bad, but not surprisingly, some dishes were better than others. And not all the photos of the food met the strict LTH photography quality standards , so not every dish is pictured.

The Paella Valencia was a rich amalgam of rice and seafood, very satisfying. But one order was enough for the table of seven - it gave us a chance to try a good variety of other tapas.

We started off with pitchers of an okay sangria. The fruit was a bit hard to eat once the glass was drained.


We also had pan-roasted mussels - the roasting process gave them an interesting, almost grilled flavor - different from typical steamed mussels.

A smattering of our other tapas:


Basically a fried cheese appetizer (can someone remind me of the actual name? Did it also contain crab?)


A seafood salad, featuring pulpo and squid


Pistou Manchega - a ratatouille-like spread for the toast points, which could be topped with the cheese


The salmon was another canapé-type dish. It took a minute to realize the salmon was on the base.


I was a bit disappointed in the fried olives with (IIRC) aioli. The olives themselves were fairly bland.


Likewise, I thought the duck sausage sounded better on the menu than it tasted in the mouth. I would have loved more ducky goodness.

Despite the few slight mis-steps, Tapas Barcelona is a solid choice in the Church/Chicago/Davis area.

And, yes, I did bring my Speedo. But to the relief of all attendees, I didn't model it.

Tapas Barcelona provided a pleasant gathering point. Comparing TB with serious tapas restaurants will not be kind to TB, but it does have a nice space with dining options not easily available in Evanston. My favorite was the deep fried olives (although Gus, no doubt, could make them sing with his pickles). The baked dates wrapped in bacon are the signature dish and another favorite. I found the paella disappointing, but TB is not a sufficiently serious kitchen to make a truly subtle paella. I believe that the cheese croquettes were crab croquettes, although it must be admitted that the crab was not distinctive. Lunch came to $16.50, which for sangria, paella, and a variety of tapas plates was certainly budget-worthy.

Good to see everyone again! I think Sparky appreciated having an actual fresh dinner post-ELG, rather than leftovers.

I'd agree, although the paella was certainly better than my past attempts, it was really more of a casserole than a paella, as there was no discernible socarrat. The other dishes were all fine, though when eating the bacon-wrapped dates I thought wistfully of GWiv's Dragon Turds - which is patently unfair to any restaurant (or home cook, for that matter.) I quite liked the fried olives and the seafood salad.

Nice to have a new list to work from; I look forward to making our first inroad next month! Bon voyage to those of you who are going somewhere exciting for the summer!

Next month - UBAA / Old Crawford Inn, tentatively set for Wednesday, July 9. I'll post a new thread as it gets closer.

I'd like to make the UBAA lunch, and might, but for what it's worth, Tuesdays Thursdays and Fridays are usually better for me than Wednesdays. As someone who has only attended one Evanston Group Lunch, I don't expect anyone to schedule anything on my account; also, it would suck to have you change the day on my account and then something comes up that makes me not able to make that. But just thought I'd throw that out there in case some other day works better for others as well. Carry on.